Superior said in a statement last week that it anticipated potential litigation even though it had offered to sell assets that would reduce the company’s U.S. market share to 35 percent.

Canada’s Competition Bureau is aware of the FTC action, spokeswoman Sophie Paluck-Bastien said in an email. She noted that the deal is also subject to a review by the bureau, but declined to comment further, citing confidentiality rules. (Reporting by Diane Bartz, John Tilak and Andrea Hopkins; editing by Chris Reese and Richard Chang)